The US banned a former EU official's visa over Big Tech rules — and the fight is playing out on X

The US announced visa bans on five Europeans over tech rules it says censor American speech. Marco Rubio accused Europe of coercing US platforms to silence views it opposes online. France's Emmanuel Macron condemned the move and vowed to defend Europe's digital sovereignty. The US just escalated its clash with Europe over tech regulation. The State Department said it has barred five Europeans, including the EU's former Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton and four members of digital campaign groups, from entering the country over what it called "censorship" of tech platforms. The visa bans were met with backlash from European leaders on X, who accused Washington of intimidation and political overreach. The dispute centers on the EU's Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, which imposes obligations on major tech platforms - many of which are based in the US - to police content and curb anti-competitive behavior. Companies in breach of it can be fined up to 6% of their global annual revenue. In a post on X late Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department would block leading figures of what he called "the global censorship-industrial complex" from entering the US. "For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose," Rubio wrote. "The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship." For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose. The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship. - Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) Today, @StateDept will take steps to... December 23, 2025 In follow-up posts on Tuesday, Sarah B. Rogers, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, named Breton among the five European individuals sanctioned, accusing him of using the EU's Digital Services Act to pressure Elon Musk and X during his tenure as commissioner for the internal market. She also named Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Clare Melford of the Global Disinformation Index, and HateAid leaders Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon, accusing them of pressuring US platforms over online speech. None of the four campaigners immediately responded to a Business Insider request for comment. Rubio added that the US was "ready and willing to expand this list" unless officials reversed course, framing the move as a defense of free expression and US sovereignty. European backlash The back-and-forth has largely played out on X, a platform that was hit with a $140 million fine earlier this month for breaching the Digital Services Act. Breton responded in Tuesday X post by invoking McCarthy-era politics, asking, "Is McCarthy's witch hunt back?" He added, "To our American friends: 'Censorship isn't where you think it is.'" French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the visa restrictions, describing them in a Wednesday X post as coercive measures aimed at undermining Europe's digital sovereignty. "The rules governing the European Union's digital space are not...

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